The invention relates to portable anvils intended in particular for the smithy, and more specifically to a model known as "double-beak" possessing, on either side of a face, two horns, one round and the other square, this portable double-beak anvil enabling a farrier to practice his art with a maximum of facilities even under itinerant conditions.
The market for smithy work has undergone very substantial changes within a relatively few years :
the stock of horses has been greatly changed, since less and less use is made of draft horses. A substantial market still exists, particularly for saddle horses, hacks and horses intended for sport (racing, polo); PA1 moveover, the farrier's trade has also changed, since a wide variety of horseshoes of all sizes and styles are now commercially available in a finished state. PA1 preforming by drop forging of a piece of alloy steel intended to form the blank for an anvil body (2) and for an attached post section; PA1 preforming by drop forging of a second piece of steel intended to form the blank for a base (3) and for an attached post section; PA1 forging by drop forging of the blank intended to form the body of the anvil and an attached post section; PA1 forging by drop forging of the second blank intended to form the base for the anvil and an attached post section, the body and the base being stamped in a manner such that the steel whereof they are formed adopts a fibrous structure, the fibers of this structure being preferentially orientated in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the future anvil in the body and in the base, and in the direction of the vertical axis in the post sections; PA1 soft annealing of the body and of the base at a temperature in the range between 600 and 700.degree. C.; PA1 machining of a contact surface at the free end of the post sections respectively attached to the body and to the base; PA1 forming of a chamfer over the circumference of each of the contact surfaces; PA1 end-to-end welding of these free ends along the perimeter of the contact surface; PA1 annealing of the anvil at a temperature in the range between 600 and 700.degree. C.; PA1 heating of the anvil at a temperature in the range between 800 and 900.degree. C.; PA1 oil quenching of the anvil; PA1 tempering of the anvil at a temperature in the range between 600 and 700.degree. C., PA1 and machining and finishing of the anvil.
The farrier thus no longer has to forge the shoe, but simply to select the appropriate shoe and fit this shoe to the horse's foot.
This task still requires a very thorough knowledge of equine anatomy, but enables the farrier to manage with less extensive equipment.
Over the same time, a novel phenomenon has arisen, namely the fact that the horse is no longer brought to the smithy, but, on the contrary, the farrier himself travels to undertake the shoeing on site.
The farrier, however, despite the wide variety of shoes of which he can make use, is ultimately confronted by a special case with each horse which he is required to shoe. The shoe, however well fitting it may originally be, virtually always has to undergo a number of adjustments before being fitted.
Depending on their extent and on the nature of the shoe, these adjustments will be performed by hot or cold hammering.
The need has thus grown up for equipment for working the shoe which is both multi-purpose and portable, enabling this work to be carried out "in the field".
For example, small gas-fired hearths already exist, enabling the shoes to be heated under good conditions.